C2C Day 5&6 Lake District NP

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Grasmere to Patterdale (Lake District)

July 18

10.2 miles

We had breakfast at our inn, Tweedies, and picked up a packaged lunch for the day from them. It was raining in the morning so we put on our rain gear, including our gaiters for the first time on the trek.  We bought gaiters for this trip as recommended by everything we ever read in preparation for Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk.  It was one of our smartest purchases.  We were lucky until now regarding rain, but it was inevitable.

The hardest rain of the day was the first 3 minutes out of the inn! But it rained lightly on and off throughout the day, though it was fairly warm at about 60 degrees.
We ran into our new friend Guy before we got out of Grasmere village. He was hovering under a store awning waiting for the rain to stop since he was just wearing a short sleeve shirt.

We hiked about a mile up the main road to pick up Wainwright’s C2C trail.  Not far in we met Mark and Dave, two guys around 70 yrs old, from Seattle. They were walking the C2C while their wives drove from point to point and met up with them at the end of each hike.  We also met Xavier and Katrien, a Belgian couple in their 30’s. We all kept about the same pace for most of the day.

The day was relatively easier than the past two days in Lake District National Park because we opted to stay on the main route through the valley, along with our new trail mates, instead of the higher elevation trail. Even though mainly a valley hike along the Grisedale Valley we had some increasing grades and managed some terrific scenery, especially the high green and craggy mountain sides all around us, waterfalls, and a look back at Grasmere in the distance.

 

Once beyond a pass, we entered another valley leading into Patterdale, then walked along the sparkling blue Ullswater Lake, and then on into Patterdale. A very, very small village.

In Patterdale there is really just one, small, main road.  There was a village store that actually sold Wainwright’s Coast to Coast souvenirs.  We bought our first souvenirs here, along with about 20 teenagers who were chaperoned there from a nearby youth hostel.  They were very polite.  Our inn was on this street, and so we checked in at Old Water View Inn at around 5:00 PM.  We had a beer in a gazebo in the back yard by a river and chatted with the 85 yr old father (Ian) of the inn owner. We actually ran into Ian about a mile out of town on the trail. He chatted with us, and Mark and Dave, and informed us then that the place we were staying at in Patterdale was his son’s inn.  It was fun to meet him later for the beer.

We went to the only restaurant in Patterdale for dinner around 7:00 PM, the excellent White Lion Inn (which is across the street from the general store we visited earlier).  We met up with Guy here who joined us for dinner.

After dinner and some drinks we headed back to the inn for some sleep.  The next day at 15.5 miles and steep is looking challenging!

Bampton Grange

July 19

15.5 miles

This was to be our last day of hiking in the Lake District National Park.  We were now near its eastern border as we head into the center of England. This was the hardest day so far according to me.  This was to be a hard 15.5 miles. It was raining hard at the outset, so after breakfast at the inn we donned our rain gear and gaiters and headed out.

The rain waned after the first half hour, but then it rained off and on most of the day. It was in the high 50’s, low 60’s. A wet day.  But it wasn’t the rain that made it a hard day, it was the intense grade along with the rain and wind.  Immediately from the inn, the trail went up a very long and steep gradient ramp toward Kidsty Pike. We continued up, up, up, and then we went up.  It definitely could have used a few switchbacks.  It was very grueling, but as a reward we were provided fantastic views.

Finally, when atop Kidsty Pike it was raining lightly off and on, but most significantly it was very windy. At times we were near the ridge and the wind was really hard, and we were in and out of clouds which were being blown around us. It was a bit scary at times. We met a Swiss hiker named Chris who requested to hike with us for safety reasons. These were not conditions to be hiking alone in. We were still able to see some great vistas. The trail just seemed to go on forever in this high wind, and continuing upward when not level.

We eventually found safe haven behind a small crag where others had been resting. It was at the beginning of the descent, and we chose here to eat our lunch.
After lunch we began the very arduous and long rocky descent. This required a lot of scrambling on butts, and using hands to make our way down the steep, rocky mountainside.
We eventually made it to the Haweswater reservoir that seemed to forever be just up ahead. We hiked the 3.5 miles to the end of the reservoir along a narrow, unfriendly path hugging the water. Then a final very long 1.5 miles into the hamlet of Bampton Grange, arriving around 4:30 PM.

To end a challenging (though amazing!) day of hiking we stayed at the disappointing Crown and Mitre where the owner was not personable at all. This was the only place we stayed during the entire trek across England where it was clear the C2C hikers were not favored guests.
But we did have a very lively, fun dinner at the inn with Xavier and Katrin from Belgium, and a new couple we just met, Kit and Sue from Australia.

Another thrilling day in Lake District National Park.  Then off to bed.

Next: C2C Day 7&8 to Yorkshire Dales